Random Snapshots

Rainy Day Thursday

After all the nice weather we've had lately...

the rain is back. 

Figures, since tomorrow is the 4th of July and all.  :)  There was a pretty big thunderstorm last night.  Complete with lighting too.  We don't get many thunderstorms around here.  Apparently it is supposed to rain on the 4th too.  I hope they are wrong.   

Do you have big plans for the 4th?

I haven't had much to blog about this week.  I've been busy with school and haven't had much excitement.  I'm happy for the 3 day weekend coming up though.  I'm hoping to be able to catch up on some things that need to be done around the house. 

See you tomorrow for Friday Favorites.  :)

I'm melting

It's been really hot here this weekend.  And by hot I mean hot for this area and too hot not to have air conditioning.  I know I have some Arizona readers and I'm definitely not comparing to their heat.  :)

I hate to even complain because I love the sun.  We barely get sun in Western Washington.  In fact, we typically only get about 75 days of sun in one whole year.  That's definitely on my "cons of living in Seattle" list. 

I also happen to be on an antibiotic right now.  For the second time in 2 months.  And I shouldn't be out in the sun for very long while I'm on it. 

Our two story condo occupies the second and third floor of the building.  Our second story is where the bedrooms are and it's brutal up here.  It's like a sauna...I think we might have to break down and buy an air conditioner today. 

Anyways, there is really no point to this post.  Except complaining I guess.  :) 

I'm taking a break from the mountain of homework I have to finish today and thought I'd write a quick post.  I'm playing around with some new Photoshop actions that I downloaded here.  I snapped a few fresh photos of my desk to play with and I like how this one turned out with the actions.

A diet Coke with lime and some blackberries are my homework-doing-snacks today.

Hope your all staying cool!  Adam just asked me if I wanted to go drive around in our truck with the air conditioning on.  It's not a bad idea - even if gas is over $4/gallon.  :)

Dan's Visit - Part I

I am just now getting the chance to go through some of the photos that I took when my brother was here visiting at the end of March. 

To recap the visit in just a few words - we had a great time! 

Adam and I were both really happy to have him here for 11 days.  It was great to spend time together and not have anything else to worry about.  Oftentimes when we go home to visit it ends up being a series of way-too-busy days running around trying to see everyone.  I know we've both felt like there just isn't enough hours to spend quality time with certain people so this was a welcomed change. 

So here's the photo recap - Part I:

On Saturday we spent a few hours at the Museum of Flight.  It's one of Adam's favorite places to go and he really likes to take visitors there.  He knows a lot about airplanes and history so it's a real treat to go with him.  The museum has a lot of great permanent displays and interesting displays throughout the year.  Dan seemed to be really interested in everything.

The best part of the day was the nice weather which meant that the outdoor airpark was open.  That's my favorite part!

And now for photo overload:

Dan & I in front of a big plane.

The front of the museum.

One of my favs at the museum - Dan's fav too.

Thumbs up!

Adam being smart.

A big ass airplane engine.

Look!  We can reach!

An old Air Force One.

A cool perspective.

Beware of intake.

HAHAHAHA I have no words for this one. Seriously.

Still on a concert high

My review of last Friday night's concert is simple.

IT.WAS.AMAZING. :)

I brought my point & shoot and got a lot of blurry photos!  More grainy than blurry actually, but I'm glad I made Adam sneak it in.

(click to enlarge)

The Dalai Lama interview was a little difficult to hear, but other than that it was great.  I didn't realize that he was being interviewed by Ann Curry AND Dave Matthews.  It was pretty cool.  Dave Matthews was VERY nervous about the interview.  You could see him sweating on the big screen and he couldn't stop rocking back and forth in his chair.  It was pretty funny actually!  I like a lot of the stuff that the Dalai Lama was saying and probably will read up more on him.  I don't always feel like his principles are "liveable," but I don't discount them at all. 

There was a surprise opener too - Death Cab for Cutie.  They are from Seattle and played a 6 or 7 song acoustic set.  They were really good and I'm glad I was able to see them live.  I love surprises like that!

I can't describe how good the Dave/Tim acoustic set was.  Seeing Tim Reynolds live is an experience.  He's amazing - a true master of the guitar.  And Dave Matthews - well, I don't need to tell you how I feel about him.  The acoustic set was a treat.  He talks throughout and I really enjoyed that part.  He lives in Seattle and I believe that made this whole Seeds of Compassion show more special. 

Here's the set list from Dave and Tim:

• Bartender
• Old Dirt Hill
• So Damn Lucky
• Stay or Leave
• Save Me
• Cry Freedom
• Gravedigger
• You Are My Sanity
• The Maker
• Sister
• Cornbread
• Some Devil
• Everyday
• Where Are You Going
• Eh Hee
• Dancing Nancies
• Encore: Lie in Our Graves

And now I only have to wait until Labor Day to see Dave Matthews Band at the Gorge.  :)

Random snapshot

Adam took this of me up inside the Space Needle last month.  As you walk around the top of the needle they have the directionals on the floor in these big letters.  An E for E.  :)

And just another random shot I liked from that same day:

Cooking day

Today was cooking day.  I went to the grocery store early this morning to get food for the football game and decided to make a morning out of cooking.  I figured it would be great to get some things cooked up for the week.  It will be great not to have to worry about dinner since I have so many other things going on.  If I could only be this organized all week.  :)

For the football game I made a garlic and rosemary pork loin on the grill with roasted root vegetables.  It was our turn for football Sunday.  Lucky Allison got to go to the game and Rob came over to watch it with us.  He and Adam raved about the dinner and I thought it turned out really good as well.  It was my first time making a pork loin and grilling it was super easy.  Roasted root vegetables are my specialty and were really good with the pork. 

While that was cooking I made my normal pot of sauce for the week, black bean soup, onion soup and hardboiled some eggs for the sauce and egg salad.  Everything turned out really well and it will certainly minimize my stress this week.  :)

We had a great visit with my Mom.  She was here last week, hence the reason that I've been blog-less for a little while.  It was really great to spend time with her since we only see each other about once a year these days.  I think we had a great mix of sight-seeing and relaxing at home.  Of course I wish the visit could have been longer, but I'm thankful for what we had!

Here's a little run-down of our week:

• Friday - spend the better part of the afternoon at Pike's Place Market.  We walked around and stopped at almost every booth.  I even found booths that I haven't seen before.  It's hard to stop everywhere when Adam's behind you pushing you out.  :)  Bought some good stuff and went out to dinner after Adam came home from work.

• Saturday - went down to the Seattle Center area.  We went to the Pacific Science Center which was really great.  Adam and I hadn't been there yet so it was fun to see it.  They had a great dinosaur exhibit going on.  We attempted to go up in the Space Needle, but the line was a couple of miles long as usual so we just walked around for a bit and then headed home for some pizza.

• Sunday - went to Allison & Robs for pumpkin carving, good food and football Sunday.  Had a great time carving, eating and watching (aside from the horrible showing by the 'hawks).

• Monday - woke up deathly ill!  I was so bummed.  Congestion from the weather hit me like a bus so most of the morning was spent hanging around here.  I felt a bit better in the afternoon so Mom and I went to see Elizabeth: The Golden Age.  It was really good and I was glad to see it with her.  We met Adam at home who also didn't feel well.  A pot of Mom's chicken soup did the trick!  :)
• Tuesday - Adam worked 1/2 day and then we headed over to the Space Needle again to give it another shot.  I'm so glad we went because it wasn't nearly as busy.  This means that we didn't have to wait and we got plenty of time to walk around and really look at everything.  Again, I found things that I'd never seen before because it was so packed last time we went.  Ended up being a great trip.  After that we went over to Pyramid Ale House for beer and food - it's a favorite of ours.

• Wednesday morning - Mom left  :(  Good news is that I'll see her again back home in less than a month.

I'm working on getting my photo albums together right now.  I'll post those when I'm finished.  :)

 

Are you ready for some football?

I know we are!

Today was the first football Sunday of the season and we were parked in front of the TV for the better part of the afternoon.  After getting home from the gym this morning we were happy to see the Buffalo Bills game on TV.  We don't typically get to see the Bills' games way out here in Seattle so that was a welcome surprise.  Unfortunately in true Bills fashion they let it go right at the end...a couple swear words were uttered, but in true Bills fan fashion we'll be back next week. 

After that game it was right on to the Seattle Seahawks game.  Allison & Rob came over to watch it with us.  We decided that this season we're going to alternate houses and watch all the games together.  It gives the guys an opportunity to watch the game with another guy and it gives us girls an opportunity to knit.  Knitting...that's really what football season is about right?!  And friends and food of course.

For today's game I made stromboli and we had some nice salads with it.  It turned out really good and I think everyone liked it.  Allison is the queen of desserts and she made some really chocolate-y brownies that we ate with some vanilla ice cream.  It was delicious!  Can't wait until next Sunday.

I've been working on a couple of projects lately and started a new one today.

I'm about halfway finished with Montego Bay from Interweave Summer 07.  I love this scarf so far and think that I'll wear it a lot.  I'm knitting with some delicious 50% merino/50% silk fingering weight yarn.  It's hand painted and I picked a neutral color that I could wear a lot.  This scarf is more of an accessory which I really like.  The pattern is simple as well which makes for a quick project.

At half-time I started a one skein project that I think is going to go quickly.  This is another project from the LYS tour that Allison and I did in May.  It's a little entrelac clutch made with Noro Tidori.  This is one of my favorite projects from the tour and I can't wait to finish.  The yarn is really gorgeous like all Noro yarns.  I think this would be a nice gift too - it knits up quickly and you only use one $9 skein.

I also finished a project this weekend, but will share that one tomorrow. 

I can't believe the weekend is over - they go by too quickly.  Anyone watching the VMAs tonight?

Until next time...   

 

Just because...

A couple of weeks ago Adam and I were heading out to go somewhere and it was right around sunset.  As we were driving we noticed that the sky was red, orange and purple and it was reflecting off the snow of Mt Rainier in a very cool way.  It was definitely a Kodak moment, but of course we didn't have our camera.  As we were driving (the town we live in has really great views on Rainier all over the place) we figured out that the top level of the parking structure at the train station would be a great place to set up a tripod and take some photos of the mountain.

One night last week we drove over there and set up.  It wasn't the cool sunset scene that we'd seen before, but it was a great view.  We were losing light fast so I only got a few shots, but I thought I'd share my favorite.

And now we know where to go should we ever see that cool sunset again.  :)

This past weekend was very cool - we got to see the Blue Angels at Seafair and I fired off about 600 shots or so.  I hope to weed through those and get an album online this week.

Until then...

Sunday at the ball field

Today we spent the better part of the afternoon watching the Yankees play the Mariners at Safeco field.  It was a great way to spend the afternoon with Allison and Rob.  It was really relaxing even though the Yankees lost.  :)

I was able to smuggle my telephoto lens in and got a few good photos.  Most of them are a little blurry because it was windy and I couldn't keep my lens steady, but I'm glad to have them anyways.  I've been a Yankees fan since I can remember, but I've never seen them in person.  I might have mentioned it before, but I worship Derek Jeter.  I probably took 100 photos of him - ha.  No, I'm serious.  :)

Here are a few from the park:

There were pink baseball bats and wrist warmers all over the field for breast cancer and Mother's Day.  It was really cool to see the players (mostly the Yankees) swinging pink bats.  :)  Even the umpires had pink wrist warmers on.

Fun times for sure.

Early Tuesday morning we're leaving for Hermosa Beach to visit my cousin and her fiance.  We can't wait!!  It will be a short visit, but a fun one for sure. 

Until the next post...

Wicked progress

And here's a picture of Wicked (finally):

I tried it on last night and it's definitely snug!  I think I'm going to continue in stockinette to accomodate for the next size up and then start my decreases.  I'm thinking this should make it fit correctly.  We'll see ;)

Here's a photo of the neck detail (which I love!):

In other news...last weekend was a great weekend!  It started on Thursday night.  We drove to Seattle to see The Tragically Hip at the Moore Theater.  We had plans on parking and walking around and finding a new restaurant to try.  But, after parking we were running short on time so we walked down to the market and ate at a place we'd been to before.  The Sound View Cafe is in the main building of the market and looks out over the water.  It looks like a total dump inside, but their food is great.  While walking around the market I had the chance to pick up some flowers right before they closed.  I love getting fresh flowers from the market.  You always find the prettiest arrangements there.

Here's a peek at the spring flowers I got:

So, onto the concert.  It was great...probably one of the better Hip shows I've seen (and I think I'm up to 13 or 14 now!).  The Moore is a pretty small venue.  It's an old theater which needs a lot of work, but it's beautiful inside.  We sat up in the main balcony and had a great view directly down to the center of the stage.  The sound was good since it was small and we felt really close to the stage.

The opening band was great - The Sadies.  We'd never heard of them before, but they put on a great show.  They're from Toronto.  Their music is a little weird at first, but definitely great when played live.  They had a lot of energy.

Also, I got a shirt because I always get a shirt at Hip shows ;)

A funny story from the show.  We were seated in the first and second seats of the row and got there fairly early.  After the opening band, these two guys came to get to their seats which were right next to ours.  As I was getting out to let them in, the one said "We've had a lot of beers so we'll probably be doing this a lot tonight"  Jokingly I said "Well you can just get out back there" Meaning climb over your seat and walk out the empty row.  :)  Immediately the kid says "BAAAACK there? Where are YOU from?"  I was always certain that I didnt' have an accent, but the people out here beg to differ.  Anyways, we tell him that we're from the Buffalo area and it turns out he's from Toronto.  ;)  I love Toronto and it was pretty cool to meet someone from there who lives out here.  The people in front of us happened to be from Toronto too.  Small world.  Him and Adam exchanged numbers and we closed the night with him asking me to say "Lockport, Batavia and Lancaster" real fast.  LOL - if you're from home you'll understand.  Oh yeah, and Adam asked him if he knew who the "Hi Mom" guy is and he does and thinks I'm a celebrity.  Nice.

That's all I've got to share today.  :)